


Strange Tales

by Sybil_Silverphoenix



Series: Loki's POV for 'Heroes and Villains' [2]
Category: Doctor Strange (Comics), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Doctor Strange the Single Dad, Ghosts, Has some Horror-Story elements, Heroes & Villains, Jotun!Loki, Magic, Soul Stone, weirdness in general
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-24
Updated: 2014-12-28
Packaged: 2018-03-03 03:31:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2836475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sybil_Silverphoenix/pseuds/Sybil_Silverphoenix
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Part of my Heroes & Villains multi series...</p><p>It's the mid-1980's and Doctor Stephen Strange battles vengeful ghosts, wayward thought-forms, and all manner of other spooky things that go bump in the night... Did I also mention he is a Single Dad?<br/>Things start getting really weird and dangerous after another Sorcerer appears on Strange's doorstep. It's all leading to... something... and Doctor Strange can't seem to figure it out for the life of him... but he knows the stakes are high and he may have to pay the ultimate price to save his son and the Earth from an Ancient Horror.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Things that go bump in the night

_‘Christine. She is so lovely… so wonderful and talented… I love her with all my heart…’_ The bright lights hurt his eyes and he feels so disoriented but the only thing he has eyes for is her… Christine Palmer, a lovely young woman, a Doctor who works long, hard hours in the ER. Her bright greenish/hazel eyes look down at him with such worry and her long, caramel colored hair is up under a hospital hair net… Stephen Strange wavers between awareness and unconsciousness as they rush him into the operating room. The only thought in his mind right now as he looks at her one last time is… _‘Why didn’t I ask her to marry me sooner?’_

 

_Earlier that week… at Stephen’s lavish New York Apartment…_

 

_‘Come with me to this seminar.’_ He pleads as though he has said it a thousand times.

_‘You know I can’t. I’ve got the late shift tonight at the hospital.’_ She replies and chuckles playfully brushing off his offer as they get ready to go out. _‘Besides, you’re going for yourself…for your ego…which knows no bounds. And I’d just be another accessory.’_ She adds with a knowing look to him. He wants to plead that she is wrong, that she means so much more to him than being a pretty face… but he can’t. He remains silent and smiles sadly at her.

_‘I’ll see you in the morning, Dr. Strange.’_ She jests and walks away. Doctor Strange watches as she retreats further and further… until she is gone.

_‘Stay. Christine, stay with me! Please come back to me… Christine!!!’_ Doctor Strange yells as he reaches out for her trying to run to her… but she is out of his reach. He sees the darkness descend… the night… that terrible night! The only light is then that of the emergency responders. The smell of gasoline hangs thickly in the air. The red and blue flashes and the sound of voices crackling over police scanners.

_‘WHY?!’_ He yells in vain knowing what’s coming next.

_‘We’re sorry, sir but you have to stay behind the line.’_ The police officer says and stops Strange from crossing on to the scene of the accident. But this off… it’s all off… he should be in that pile of wreckage that was once a ’66 Roadrunner… Not _her_ … not Christine… he had pushed her away years ago. But the feeling of hopelessness returns full force… as does the knowledge that he could’ve done something. He could _do something_!

_‘I’m a Doctor! Dammit! Let me DO SOMETHING!!! PLEASE!!!’_ Strange yells as tears slip in torrents from his eyes.

_‘There’s NOTHING you CAN DO!!! NOTHING!!! YOU’RE NO LONGER A DOCTOR!!!’_ The police officer shouts in his face and then the officer’s voice changes and suddenly there is a dark silhouette towering before Strange.

_‘Who are you?’_ Strange asks as he looks at the dark shadowy figure questioningly.

_‘I am NIGHTMARE!!!’_ And the darkness rushes him.

 

“Daddy! Daddy! I had a bad dream!” Comes a little boy’s voice. Stephen Strange’s blue eyes snap open and watch the frightened six year old run across the darkened room to his bed and climb in.

“It’s okay, Stevie. It was just a… nightmare.” Strange says to comfort his son. He has a moment to reflect on his own nightmare… _‘That menacing presence. It’s been following me since… since…’_ He can’t even finish the thought. Instead, he clears his thoughts and focuses on his son.

“Listen to me. Your dreams can’t hurt you unless you let them… okay?”

“Okay.” The little boy replies tentatively.

“The next time you have a bad dream… you just tell yourself… and it… that it can’t hurt you. That it has no power over you… because it isn’t real.” Strange then tells his son as he gives the boy a reassuring smile. The little boy nods his dark haired head. “Now just lay down and practice your deep breathing techniques, okay?”

“Okay, daddy.” Stevie says and crawls under the covers. He starts his breathing techniques. “I love you, daddy.” He then says and continues.

“I love you, too… Stevie.” Strange says and listens as his son soon quickly fall asleep. Strange, however, lays there still wide awake. He starts his own breathing exercises and soon slips off into slumber once more…

 

___________

Stephen Strange is busy in the kitchen mixing batter for pancakes. His son, Stevie, sits on a stool at the island counter watching his father intently. They smile at each other as Strange motions with his hands and the bowl floats up into the air and pours out small dabs of batter into the skillet to make little silver dollar pancakes. He then twirls his fingers and the little pancakes flip over to brown on the other side. The boy smiles and giggles as he watches his father make his favorite breakfast.

“There you go, Stevie.” Strange says to his son with a wide smile as the little golden pancakes fly through the air to land on the plate before the little boy. The syrup bottle and butter float past to complete the meal and a tall glass of chocolate milk comes to land next to the plate as well.

“Thank you, Daddy!” The little boy exclaims happily as he then digs in and eagerly consumes his breakfast. Strange then hears a knock at his front door.

“Remember to clear your plate.” Strange says as he starts to leave the kitchen. The little dark haired boy simply smiles and eats as he watches his dad go. Strange lets the bowl and skillet float down to reside in the sink’s hot soapy water where the scrub brush works to clean up by itself. He then wonders what could be going on now since only those truly needing his aid can find his front door, let alone knock upon it.

“Who disturbs my contemplation?” The deep rumble of his protection spell sounds as Strange approaches his front door. He removes his cooking apron and waves his hands down the front of his body. His clothing changes in an instant.

Strange is then dressed in a loose blue-gray tunic that folds over in front and is secured with a black belt and a golden rope. His pants are black and somewhat baggy tucking into the tops of his well-polished black boots. As he walks past the stairs to the upper floors, he gestures to the Cape of Levitation which hovers just off to the side… it moves on its own and gracefully flutters over to settle on his shoulders. He then completes his look by pulling on dark yellow gloves to hide the scars upon his hands. Doctor Strange then listens carefully for the caller’s reply to come.

“Please, Doctor Strange, I need your help!” The voice is a woman’s and she sounds desperate. “I’ve tried everything I can think of… Paranormal Investigators, a Catholic Priest, and then at some Occult bookstore… your card just flew into my hand and the old lady behind the counter smiled at me and told me I needed a Doctor. So can you please help me?” The woman asks pleadingly.

Strange sighs then opens his thick heavy wooden door with a simple wave of his hand. He summons a light mist which rolls out before him keeping him shrouded until the very last possible moment… the woman gasps as the mysterious Doctor Strange appears before her! He waves his gloved hands and the mist parts revealing his groomed dark hair, which is just starting to turn silver at the sides, and looks squarely at the stunned woman before him with serious yet warm blue eyes. He has always had a flare for the theatrical ever since he started this whole ‘exorcist’ gig of his.

“I am Doctor Strange… and maybe I can help you. Just tell me what seems to be the problem.” He then says with a small smile to the woman. She sighs and thanks him for answering the door for her.

“They are small and are greenish gray in color when they do appear to my little boys. My sons described them as looking like those horrible little monsters in that ‘Gremlins’ movie that just came out not too long ago… and they are always rummaging through the cabinets and throwing things. I’m so scared that they’ll hurt my children… please help me. I don’t know what else to do.” The woman explains and her eyes start to tear up as she pleads once more.

“Come inside, madam. I’ll brew you a nice soothing chamomile tea with some honey and gather my things.” Doctor Strange says and helps the woman step inside. His eyes dart to look at the cat statue sitting up on a high self that overlooks his door. Its eyes glow green, that’s a good sign… means she really is a woman in need. Such precautions are necessary when you fight Demons and other supernatural baddies that can hide themselves and try to attack you in your home.

Doctor Strange leads the woman to his large study. The room is huge with a large fireplace dominating one wall and dark cherry wood panels along all the walls. Large windows line one side of the long room where dark red curtains hang but don’t really block the bright light from outside.

“Rest here, madam.” Strange says as he has the woman sit in a chair before his large desk. He then turns away from her and she can’t help but look around at the odd assortment of items gathered on Strange’s dark wood desk and around the room so she doesn’t notice when the tea set appears before her out of thin air.

“Please, enjoy the tea, ma’am.” Strange says with a smile then starts off towards the long wall opposite the windows where several bookcases are built into it.

“Oh?” The woman says a bit surprised by the sudden appearance of the delicate looking tea cup full of steaming tea before her… as well as the pot, sugar jar, and creamer boat. She starts to sip at it as Strange runs his fingers along the various book spines looking for the one he has in mind. “Here it is.” He then says to himself as he passes a strange blackened skull that breaks up the row of books. He grabs the thick volume and pulls it out.

“Is that a spellbook?” The woman inquires curiously as she watches Doctor Strange open it and scan the first page… then he hurriedly shuffles through it to the desired page number.

“Would you say… they look like this?” Strange then asks as he turns the thick book to her for inspection. The woman eyes the drawing of the thin gangly looking creature with green skin and a pale gray belly. It has tuffs of white looking hair coming out of its ears and large owl-like yellow eyes… the wide grinning maw lined with small, sharp pointy teeth and long, thin claws on its four fingered hands gives the little creature a truly scary and monstrous appearance.

“Y-yes.” The woman answers shakily after she swallows nervously. “What are they?” She then asks worriedly as she looks at Doctor Strange with wavering eyes. She takes a shaky second sip and then sits it down on the desk.

“They are known as Hob-goblins. They are tricky little pranksters that have plagued mankind for as long as we’ve kept records… so for roughly six thousand years… who knows how long before that.” Doctor Strange starts. He then leans on his desk with both hands and looks at the woman with serious eyes. “I can rid your home of them… even alter yours and your family’s memories so that you all can move on from this and live in peace once more.”

“What are you saying, Doctor?” The woman asks after taking another sip of the tea. She then sips again and comments on it. “This is really good tea.” She starts to act woozy then and her voice falters as she blinks rapidly. Doctor Strange waves his hand and uses magic to catch both her and the cup as she passes out. He has her head rest gently on the desk and the cup lands before him.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Baker… but you’ll have to forget me as well. It’s part of the job.” Doctor Strange then says with a slight sigh. He looks down at the open book. “I do hate tricksters.” He comments dryly then closes the book.

 

___________

Night has fallen and Doctor Strange is standing at the end of the driveway of a rather nice country home up north of New York City near the Hudson River. There is a marvelous view behind him of the black cliffs that edge the river… or at least that is you can see them better in the daylight. Now only the waxing gibbous moon lights the countryside which is eerily silent on this chilly early-October night.

Strange had returned the woman to her vehicle and planted the suggestion in her mind that her and her family should go spend the weekend at her mother’s so the family would be out of the house… and thus out of the way. He waves his hands and a mist arises to cover the property. He then approaches the home and hears scurrying noises but only at the house. He gives a discerning look to the home’s porch, around its sides, and up to its roof.

“If you come out now and surrender… I’ll send you somewhere nice… if not…” He shouts out and lets his words trail off open ended. The scurrying stops but nothing shows itself. “The hard way it is then.” Strange then says softly and tugs on a gold chain around his neck. He pulls out a gold locket that is designed to look like a stylized closed eye from inside his blue-gray tunic. He holds his gloved hands up and performs the hand gesture to ‘open the eye’… and the design clicks and moves, appearing as though a lid is moving allowing the Eye to see. The green light that emanates from within shines out and illuminates small four-toed footprints. They cover everything as the mist retreats from the light swiftly like a living thing fleeing from injury. Suddenly there is high-pitched giggling. It is all around the Doctor and if he was anyone else… he’d probably be a little freaked out by the eerie sounds.

“We stay!” Comes a small raspy voice then there is scurrying overhead.

“We like it here!” Comes another voice from the side and a bush is rustled.

“We will devour this family’s souls through their fear…”

“Then move on to the next family down the road.”

“That’s not going to happen!” Doctor Strange says heatedly as the voices get more and more menacing. Strange then waves out both hands before him… the sound of glass cracking is heard then the fractures shift outwards as he draws the little creatures as well as himself into the Mirror Dimension where Reality cannot be affected by the battle to come. He stands at the ready…  waiting and watching as he hears the little creatures scurry about. They then rush at him from all sides. “By the Eye of Agamotto… I, the Sorcerer Supreme…” Doctor Strange starts as he moves his hands through a series of gestures that focuses his magical power… the green light starts to build in intensity and a green mist flows out to swirl around Doctor Strange forming a smoky circle as he stands still in concentration.

His eyes snap open and the green mist shoots outwards. “Remove you of your Souls and spiritual essences so that you may never torment anyone ever again!” He shouts then and the green mist races out in swirling arcs taking hold of every single little creature and they are quickly pulled into the center of the Eye. They scream as they are lost to the Eye and vanish forever and then the green mists fade… leaving the night peaceful once more.


	2. In Search of Answers

“I take it all went well with your ghostbusting, Strange?” Asks a stout middle-aged Asian man as Doctor Strange enters through the front door of the Sanctum Sanctrum. Strange waves his hand down the front of his body and his clothes change to something more suiting the times than his Sorcerer get-up.

“Oh, hey Wong.” Strange says when his blue eyes meet Wong’s stern gaze. The man never smiles. “Well, they resisted… like they always do.” Strange replies with a tone of weariness. “But they weren’t anything I couldn’t handle.” The Doctor stops and loses his footing momentarily before catching himself on the stair railing.

“You used the Eye, didn’t you, Strange?” Wong inquires with a stern tone as he eyes Doctor Strange collect himself and stand straight once more. The Doctor doesn’t reply. Wong then adds, “You shouldn’t use it unless it is absolutely needed. You know the toll for its use better than anyone who has wielded the Eye before you.” Wong lectures.

“I know!” Strange says curtly cutting off his fellow sorcerer’s admonishment. He then sighs and wipes his hand across his brow before adding in a softer tone, “I know what it did to Agamotto back in the day… why the Ancient One rarely used it.”

“Yet you will use it every time there is a shadow to chase.” Wong then says as he gives Strange’s back a hard stare through narrowed eyes. “Or in this case, to rid the world of pretty much everything that goes bump in the night.”

“You must think me a fool then, Wong.” Strange then says with a bit of sadness in his voice though he does not turn to look his friend in the eyes.

“I have never thought you a fool, Strange. Stubborn? Yes. More so than an unruly mule? Most definitely.” Wong then says and Strange chuckles.

“Are these complaints regrets about the Ancient One making me Sorcerer Supreme?” Strange then asks.

“No. You proved yourself dealing with Kaecilius and his followers five years ago. Your stubbornness to never give up, quick thinking, and rather unorthodox approach lead to our victory over that fanatic and Dormmamu back then. So you are worth keeping around.” Wong answers sternly.

“Then there is none worthier to wield the Eye than I.” Strange then says and starts up the stairs.

“We need to talk more about repairing the Sanctums, Strange.” Wong then says as he steps forward and stops at the foot of the stairs. Doctor Strange sighs but continues adding…

“We’ll talk about that in the morning.”

 

Strange slowly and quietly uses his magic to open his son’s bedroom door. He smiles as he sees his little boy sleeping soundly tucked under plush covers. His smile falters slightly as he hopes his young son is dreaming sweet, happy dreams like children should and not nightmares like the little boy has done nearly his entire short life. His thoughts then return to the family he helped. The woman won’t remember him at all and when that family wakes up tomorrow… they won’t recall anything about their ordeal.

Doctor Strange had vowed to help the innocent who were vexed by the paranormal ever since he became the Sorcerer Supreme five years ago. He quickly shakes his head to clear his mind of the memories of the past… of the time before he became a sorcerer of any merit… or a father. He doesn’t want to relive them but they come anyways… they always do.

 

~         ~         ~         ~         ~         ~         ~

He had been driving home after s seminar in Connecticut when… when it happened. A shadow, or that’s what Strange had thought at first was a shadow, had suddenly sprang up from the side of the road and darted in front of him. Strange swerved to avoid it at first then corrected… but he over did it and lost control. He wound up flipping the vehicle fully before it went off the road and into a tree. What ultimately saved his life that night was the fact that the car struck the tree as it was flipping over on to its top… so the passenger side was crushed. He didn’t walk away unscathed himself… no… Stephen Strange’s hands had suffered sever trauma. Every finger had been broken/crushed.

When the ambulance finally got to him, he had been unattended to for nearly an hour. The nerve damage was extensive and even after several surgeries where his finger bones were rebroken and set to heal properly, he still felt constant pain in all ten digits. It was as though his hands were on fire all the time. He even had a highly experimental stem cell treatment done to his frayed nerves to try and heal them or at least alter the sensation in his hands. It worked to a marginal degree. So instead of burning, his hands now felt as though they were constantly tingling. This barely changed the lack of muscle control from before but at least now he could somewhat grip objects again.

It just wasn’t enough though… Stephen Strange needed to be a doctor. He had made a promise long ago to his younger sister to help others… and he may have told Christine about said promise when they had their moments of ‘oversharing’ in the bedroom.

Then one day, after he had exhausted nearly all of his money… and ran Christine off by being a complete asshole… Strange heard of a man who was once paralyzed from the chest down but was now walking again! WHAT?! As soon as he had the Physical Therapist pull up the man’s chart, Strange paid the miracle man a visit… he was not disappointed too much. He got the name of a place… Kamir-Taj… and that it was in Nepal… nestled amid the Himalayas.

He begged Christine for the money for a one way ticket to Nepal. She agreed only because he apologized… Doctor Stephen Strange apologizes to no one for anything… so that in and of itself was a feat. She helped him out… and four connecting flights later… Stephen Strange was wandering the crowded streets of Katmandu muttering the name Kamir-Taj… until fate intervened…

He was set upon by some muggers. They roughed him up a bit, twisted his arm… but before they could slit his throat… a stranger in a dark cloak saved him. The man identified himself as Mordo… and he lead Strange to Kamir-Taj. Once there… Stephen’s sense of perception was skewed.

He had assumed the wrong person was the Ancient One… his thought was an old eighty-something Asian man when in reality the Ancient One turned out to be a woman with a clean-shaven head appearing to be in her forties at the oldest… very confusing.

She then showed him everything that he believed was impossible… she revealed the Universe to him from the largest scale all the way down to the Quantum Realm… he traveled along the roots and branches of the World Tree… and was shown the infinte scope and possibilities of the Multiverse as he watched countless other Stephen Stranges falling through the fractal universes. Needless to say, he was more than a little freaked out… but he HAD TO KNOW… he HAD TO LEARN. So he said…

“Teach me.”

And after a determined sit-in on her doorstep… she taught him.

 

Stephen Strange took to his magical studies like a duck to water… He excelled at everything he sought to learn. His photographic memory and quick comprehension skills allowed him to advance more rapidly than any other student before… and within one year, Stephen Strange had become a sorcerer. Some praised his talent… others harbored bitterness for his achievement… for normally it took about a decade to make one a skilled sorcerer.

 Just before he could go through his trails though, a fellow sorcerer named Kaecilius had gathered a dozen other apprentices and newly recognized sorcerers to his cause… the age old quest for eternal life.

Calling upon the Blessing of Dormmamu, Kaecilius and his disciples took into themselves the energy of the Dark Dimension thus becoming one with Dormmamu. They were able to warp reality in truly unreal ways… like causing matter to fold in on itself infinitely… or replicate itself infinitely.

Ultimately, Doctor Strange had to use the Eye of Agamotto to close Dormmamu’s use of Earth’s nexus points to the other dimensions… the Sanctums. Located around the globe… Hong Kong, Sydney, London, New York, and Rio De Janeiro are the names of the cities that had grown around them. They lost three of the five, only the New York and Hong Kong locations were saved thanks to Doctor Strange’s quick thinking and determination to not fail. He then let the Master of the Dark Dimension, Dormmamu himself, have a taste of the Eye’s soul draining power. Dormmamu relented and retreated… taking his followers with him.

Together… Strange and Wong rebuilt the five Sanctums within two years. Mordo had felt a deep betrayal at learning how the Ancient One had been channeling Dormmamu’s dark power to preserve her life force for so long. So he went his own way, the only regret Doctor Strange has of that fateful day is that he let Mordo go without settling things between them first. Perhaps… one day, there may yet be a reconciliation. He’ll just have to wait and see if it’s in the cards.

Not long after taking residence in the New York Sanctum Sanctorum, Stephen Strange sought out Christine. She had helped him at a couple of critical moments in the battle with Kaecilius and his disciples. He owed her an explanation first and foremost… and… he wanted to share his life with her. The thought of her on the lonely nights of his apprenticeship had helped him find the will to carry on. He had made a promise to himself to see her once more and tell her how he truly felt… as well as beg her forgiveness of his former behavior.

Upon seeing her again, Stephen learned that she was still thankfully single… but she was also a mother. In fact, the toddling boy was his! Stephen Strange now had a new skill to master… parenthood.

 

\-------

The next day dawns bright but soon the skies are overcast and a chill is in the air. Stephen Strange readies his young son for school and sends Stevie off with a smile after fixing him some breakfast. Stephen barely remembers his early childhood. He now struggles hard to recall his little sister’s voice… the gifts they got for Christmas when she was four and he was eleven. It is a consequence of using the Eye… for it draws in all souls close by whether they are in sight of the Eye or behind it. Though being out of sight of the Eye is better than being in its direct gaze…

He dreads the day when he will look at his son and forget who the boy is… but there is real evil in this world. It is hidden and only those with open eyes can see it… and Doctor Strange made a vow to never let the dark things hurt the innocent. He plans to uphold his promise to his fallen mentor until the very day he is consumed by his own darkness and gazes into the Eye himself.

Then there comes a knock upon his front door. The rapping is slow and methodic. Strange turns and with the waggle of his fingers, he readies his defensive spells.

“Who disturbs my contemplation?” The deep rumbling voice sounds.

“I have come seeking the Doctor.” A smooth and polite voice sounds from the other side of the thick wooden door. “I have a most interesting proposition… for Doctor Strange. Are you him?” Strange considers this new comer for a second longer… he looks at the man’s aura through the spirit glass peep hole on the door. The good Doctor notices there are four prominent layers surrounding a pin prick of light.

The outer most layer is a swirl of blue with silver snowflakes, the next inner aura is a neon glow of yellow, then there is a shimmer of golden energy in knot-work patterns above a film of solid blue veined with gold and white, and as he stares at the point of light that shines with the brilliance of the Sun… Stephen sees a flicker of orange flame shaped like a graceful bird with twin swirling tail feathers. The bird looks at the Mortal Sorcerer with eyes of emerald flame… and Stephen vividly recalls the best moments of his childhood.

His sister’s voice when she got her favorite doll… this leads him down more memories of her… when she first started High School… the her first faint… dated a boy… went to prom… her second faint… off to college… her fainting spells… her diagnosis… the procedure that he headed. Strange looks away and feels a tear slip down his cheek. He has to take a moment to remind himself that he did the best he could do at the moment… things where out of his control back then… but now they are not. Now he has the power to do something, to make real change, and save all lives. His son is the reason he returned home to New York… why he fights the Evil hidden in the Shadows. So that the world is a safe place for him as well as everyone else.

He may not trust everything this man is… but that spark, that little bird of flame… he can trust that. Stephen then waves his hand down his front changing his casual wear into his ‘Sorcerer’ attire. The red cape… the Cloak of Levitation… falls over his shoulders from above. He then conjures a mist for the theatrics and waves his hand to open the door…

“I am Doctor Strange.” He says as he steps out through the rolling mist on to his front porch to stand before a well-dressed man in a black suit and hat get-up. His gloved hands are folded over a beautiful cane of twisting dark green and black wood capped with gold on both ends and large green jewels.

“Speak of your business with me in my foyer and I’ll see if I can be of service.” Strange then says and gestures for this man to enter. He can’t sense anything from this man other than the taste of magic lingering on the surface… like frost on a window plane. Perhaps his tools of detection will be of more help…

“Thank you for speaking with me… Dr. Strange.” The man says slowly as he looks about curiously then dismisses everything off-handedly. Strange looks at an obsidian cat statue sitting in a nook above the door… no reaction, just nothing. Strange then slowly walks around the large circular foyer/parlor area. He looks at the man’s reflection and sees only the shimmer of the golden knot-work energy upon his form… so he is protected. Understandable.

“Now tell me… Mr. ?… I’m afraid you didn’t give me a name.” Doctor Strange says to the well-dressed man.

“No, I didn’t give it. Pardon my lack of manners… I am… Luke Frost, Sorcerer Excelsior.” The man says as he removes his hat and bows with a flourish.

“And what is your business with me, Mr. Frost?” Dr. Strange asks as he watches this new Sorcerer closely. A look of worry flickers through Luke’s pale blue eyes.

“Have you not felt _IT_?” The man asks in a hushed whisper drawing closer as though they are being overheard. “For years _IT_ has been whispering to me in the night… showing me my fears… dashing my dreams to dust. All to see me to ruin… to control me. Has _IT_ been working on you as well?”

_‘I am NIGHTMARE!!!’_ Stephen Strange recalls the eerie voice…

“Has Nightmare turned your slumber into something to dread?” Luke Frost then asks as he looks at the good doctor. Strange frowns then turns his face away from the newcomer.

“Yes.” Doctor Strange says as he controls his breath to ease the quickening pace of his heart.

“Then let us do something before the rest of Humanity feels such terror.” Luke Frost says. Doctor Strange nods but then realizes that his fellow Sorcerer can’t see the movement… so he throws back his hood.

“Let us see what we can learn of our foe.” The good doctor says as he focuses his energy and draws a burning circle in the air before him…


End file.
